Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will meet with EU representatives in Brussels today to negotiate a joint strategy for the refugee crisis. Why should Turkey help an EU that has neglected its interests for years, some commentators ask. Others find it unacceptable that the EU has now come begging at Erdoğan‘s door

Supporters and foes gathered in Strasbourg on Sunday (4 October) on the occasion of a visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has apparently turned his European tour into part of his election campaign.

The existing European approach to migration does not match reality or recognise the evolving complexity of human mobility. In our People Flow pamphlet of 2003, openDemocracy and Demos proposed a model that does.

The Portuguese general election will take place on Sunday 4 October. It may well deliver an inconclusive outcome, with neither the centre-right governing coalition nor the Socialist Party securing an absolute majority in the Portuguese parliament. A primer by our policy analyst Vincenzo Scarpetta.

In a recent report on Germany, Nils Muižnieks, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, criticises the fact that democratic control of the intelligence services is practically impossible and that mass surveillance can be carried out virtually unchecked.

“Facing an increasingly self-centered centre, we stand for citizens who are open to the world and to the present time, capable of organizing and cooperating according to their abilities and aspirations.”

Unlike Scotland, Catalonia has not been given the chance to have a definitive say on its independence. Does this further the cause for secessionists?

Artur Mas, Carme Forcadell and Oriol Junqueras during the Catalan plebiscitary election day celebrations in Barcelona. Joan Cros/Demotix. All rights reserved.Democracy, and by that I mean the modern, Western understanding of it, is a near-sacred concept. The right for people to freely and fairly elect their leaders – and for their leaders to therefore possess a legitimate mandate for governance – is seen as inalienable in the Western world.

Disagreement is growing over the plan to introduce transit zones for asylum seekers on the German border. Federal Minister of the Interior Thomas de Maizière has been criticised for breaking agreements.

Russian fighter jets attacked targets in Syria on Wednesday. The Defence Ministry in Moscow has said the attacks were aimed at IS positions. According to US government sources they targeted areas controlled by moderate rebels. Moscow’s military intervention is an admission of failure by the West, some commentators write. Others believe that Washington will benefit from the mission.

It will take time to organise elections in Ukraine that respect international standards and as a result, the so-called Minsk peace process will run into next year, French President François Hollande said yesterday (2 October).

Spain cannot continue ignoring the democratic, peaceful and repeated demands of Catalans for a referendum; continued obstinacy will ensure the rupture.

Catalan independence rally on Catalan National Day. Roger De Marfa/Demotix. All rights reserved.The vote count in the Catalan regional election is not yet finalized, but initial estimates give the pro-independence parties an electoral plurality that translates into a substantial parliamentary majority. This is at best a mixed result for Artur Mas and Oriol Junqueras, who were much criticized for the begrudging manner in which the separatist coalition came together earlier in the year and who failed to recapture the sum of votes given to their parties separately in 2012. However, it remains a heavy blow for Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, whose consistent mishandling of Catalan affairs have acted as a spur to Spain’s prickliest region. His government was responsible for numerous wholly avoidable gaffes that undermined the pro-union position just days before the election and undoubtedly contributed to the record turnout of 77 percent of the electorate. As of 11:15 p.m., with 96 percent of the ballots counted, the election stands as follows:

The revelation of Volkswagen’s deception has left consumers, politicians, national authorities, and environmental organisations reeling. Trust in big business and industry has taken a nosedive, but it is not the first time a big company has deceived consumers and authorities, and it is unlikely to be the last scandal. Given the lobbying power of car manufacturers in both the EU and USA one should not be surprised that companies cheat to avoid complying with legislation, what might be surprising is that Volkswagen spends money on developing a software system aimed at deceiving instead of actually developing technologies to reduce emissions. The reactions have been one of condemnation and discussions about how to prevent this in the future is slowing emerging.

Even though Slovenia is “no longer under Communism” critical journalism in that country is still under siege and often subjugated to political power.

Radio Televizija Slovenija log. Wikipedia/free to use and share.Recent decisions taken by some of the most influential public mediao organisations in Slovenia regarding the employment and dismissal of journalists have ignited debate within the country. The issues of needing to secure objective communication, pluralism, quality of information and also better working conditions for those working in the media have been raised.